Give to York

Thank you for your interest in supporting York University and our vision to offer the best possible education to our students. We invite you to spend a few minutes to explore the different ways in which you can help.

Give Now

Giving online is secure, quick and easy. You can make a gift in a single payment, a larger pledge with regular contributions over a period of time or join our monthly giving program. If you are a York faculty or staff member wishing to donate through payroll deduction, please call 416-650-8210.

There are several ways to commemorate the accomplishments of someone close to you or to honour the memory of a loved one who has passed away.

Tribute gifts celebrate a graduation, retirement or perhaps a new job – any important moment in a person’s life you’d like to mark with a gift to York.

Memorial gifts honour a life well lived and the passion and caring that person brought to the world in their lifetime.

You may direct your tribute or memorial gift however you choose. Whether it is to inspire York students through an award or to support a groundbreaking research initiative, your gift will help our talented students and dedicated faculty in their pursuit of knowledge.

Take Your Seat at Accolade

Honour a loved one by naming a seat in our Accolade East Building at the School of Arts, Media, Design and Performance. For every $500 donation made to the Take Your Seat program, you can name a seat in the Tribute Communities Recital Hall or the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre.

Honour with Books

Honour with Books provides a meaningful way to celebrate a special person in your life while making an important contribution to York’s library collection. For every donation of $100 or more directed to Honour with Books, a personalized bookplate will be affixed to the inside front cover of a newly acquired volume in our collection.

Benches and Trees

By donating a bench or a tree, you help make York a special place that fosters conversation and debate as well as quiet contemplation. A plaque will be placed on the bench with your personal message. For environmental reasons, your gift of a tree will be recognized in the Book of Remembrance in our prestigious Honour Court.

Study Carrel

York University Libraries offers ways to support the libraries by naming either a wired study carrel at $1,000 or wired study table at $5,000. This is a way to pay tribute to a colleague or friend or simply to support the libraries at York.

Read how the friends and family of Taryn Stephens chose to honour her memory.

Matching Gift Programs

A matching gift is an excellent way to increase the impact of your generosity. By doubling, tripling or even quadrupling your donation, you can further help us advance York’s interdisciplinary research and academic programs.

Corporate Matching Programs

Many companies offer a matching gift plan to encourage philanthropy among employees and their spouses. To find out if your company has a matching gift policy, enter your employer’s name below:

If your company is eligible, consult your employer’s HR department to request a corporate matching gift form. Then send the completed form (with your gift) to us using the information below. We will do the rest.

Attention: Gift Processing
Division of Advancement
York University
West Office Building
4700 Keele St.
Toronto, Ont. M3J 1P3

University and Government Matching Programs

4x:

Graduate Support Matching Program (GSMP)

The GSMP will match private donations of $50,000 or more. By matching both the initial gift and the annual distribution, the program quadruples the financial impact of an endowed fund to benefit graduate students in perpetuity.

3x:

Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)

The province will triple your gift’s impact. A donation of $5,000 will name an OGS for one year and result in a $15,000 award. Permanent scholarships can be created with a minimum endowed gift of $100,000. Gifts of any size will contribute to the existing OGS Fund.

US Donors

Alumni & Relatives

If you are an American resident who has ever been enrolled as a student at York, or if you have an immediate relative (spouse, parent or grandparent, sibling, child) who has ever been enrolled at York, it’s easy to make a donation. Your cross-border gift to York gets special tax treatment – you will receive a full tax deduction just as if you were making a gift to a U.S. charity.

Friends

If you want to make a gift to York as an American resident but don’t fall under the above categories, you can still make a donation – with tax advantages – through our sister organization, Friends of York University. Your gift goes to your preferred designated area and you receive a fully qualified charitable deduction. Donations may be made to:

Organizations

A gift transfer from your corporation or foundation to York University most likely does not require charitable tax treatment in order for you to achieve any net tax advantage. Your corporation or foundation may also choose to give a gift through Friends of York University at the above address. York University is registered as a Canadian Charitable Organization, business number 119306736 RR0001.

Stocks and Other Securities

A gift of securities is a great way to support and encourage York’s dedication to innovation, student support, cutting edge research and enhanced infrastructure. Gifts of publicly traded appreciated securities, including stocks, bonds and mutual funds, made directly to York, may provide important tax advantages for donors.

Gifts in Kind

Gifts in kind are non-cash donations, such as books, artwork, real estate, and other tangible personal property. These types of gifts can enhance a particular York Faculty, department or augment the University’s existing collections.

Often, in kind property requires special consideration and consultation with the University to ensure that they support its academic priorities. If accepted, you will receive a charitable tax receipt for the appraised, fair market value determined on the day the gift is made. Gifts in kind can be made during your lifetime, or through your estate by including instructions in your will.

Services do not qualify as a gift-in-kind. If York would have to contract the service, your donation could be configured as a cash donation.

Aeroplan

Are you a frequent flyer? By donating your Aeroplan Miles, you can help us create travel bursaries for students to subsidize the costs of academic and extracurricular travel, providing greater opportunities to maximize their postsecondary experience. York’s participation in the Aeroplan Charitable Pooling Program has resulted in more than 300,000 donated miles.

Student Testimonials

If you have received an award as a student at York, we would like to hear from you. Our generous benefactors support many different financial awards that play an important role in the success of our students. One of the best ways we can show our appreciation is to let our student recipients speak for themselves.

The York University Foundation

Looking for York University Foundation? As of May 1, 2011, the Foundation became part of York's new Division of Advancement. Click here for more information.

York creates new Division of Advancement

On May 1, 2011, the new Division of Advancement at York assumed the functions of York University Foundation, Alumni Relations and Advancement Services. The transition was primarily a realignment of responsibilities within the University to function more effectively. All funds donated to the Foundation remain committed to the purposes for which they were intended.

Endowed gifts received by the Foundation have always been invested jointly with York endowed funds and managed by a joint investment committee. This committee, which is an existing committee of the University Board of Governors, will continue to manage the funds. These funds will continue to be subject to the investment and distribution policies of the University, which will continue to provide reports on these endowed funds as the Foundation did previously.
More information regarding oversight and the investment management process for the endowment fund, including an annual report, investment committee reports and the Statement of Investment Policies and Procedures is available at the York Secretariat homepage.

All new gifts to support York, including gifts to existing endowed funds, should be made payable to York University.
To learn more about the Division of Advancement, see Yfile articles on Oct. 5, 2010, March 18, 2011 and May 2, 2011.